


A Prescription For Mankind

by Eurydicoy



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Starfleet Academy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-18
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 01:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1088067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eurydicoy/pseuds/Eurydicoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James T. Kirk is a genius.<br/>But he can be pretty stupid when it comes to love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Prescription For Mankind

It’s one day in June that Jim starts to date this cute little girl he met about five weeks ago in his self-defense class. Allison is her name and she’s quirky and full of energy. She’s just like Jim. It’s something entirely new for the young man and he’s so excited and concentrated on his new project that he doesn’t notice how his best friend suffers in silence. Bones can feel the lump in his throat whenever he has to witness a kiss or just a hug between the happy couple. Cadets start to talk about Jim and the beautiful redhead and the way they look together. Leonard can hear the words ‘lovely’ and ‘cute’ and he needs to control the urge not to hypo those bastards with some nasty virus. Bones can’t decide what’s worse. The pain he feels whenever Jim forces him to smile and go out with the new couple or the way Uhura and their other friends look at him with pity in their eyes. Of course everyone knows about his feelings for Jim, even Pike claps him on the back and tells him to divert himself with something else when he meets him after his shift at the infirmary. No, the worst is that now he has the evidence that it’s not his job to make Jim happy. It’s his job to patch him together and go out for drinks. Actually he’s not sure if that’s still his job and if Jim’s little girlfriend already replaced him. It sucks that Leonard has to admit that she’s a really nice girl most of the time. He still can’t help but hate her and he knows that she knows. It’s humiliating and he hates how dependant he is. He wants to shake Jim and yell at him, wants to tell him how much he loves him but of course he’s not the person a young and beautiful man like Jim wants.   
A grumpy old bastard, that’s Leonard McCoy. He’s a great doctor and a good friend for Jim but in the end it’s not enough. He was never enough. He never will be. But it’s better to just accept it than hope for something that’s absolutely impossible. So Bones does exactly what Pike suggested. The next time one of his patients asks him out he agrees to go out on a date.   
And if the only reason he said yes is because the guy has beautiful blue eyes and blond hair then Leonard is willing to ignore and deny it. 

 

The date is not even a real date per se. They eat, they drink a few beers and before it’s even midnight they fuck in Bones’ dorm room. It feels so good to forget his best friend for a moment even it it’s only for a few minutes that he needs a few seconds to notice Jim standing in the door frame with shock written all over his perfect face. Suddenly the guy who’s moving over and inside him feels wrong and dirty and he can’t push him off his body fast enough. But Jim is already gone when Bones looks over again. He escaped so fast that in his hurry he didn’t even close the door behind him. The surrogate-Jim starts to complain and mutter about stupid men that don’t know what they want while he’s getting dressed and after a few minutes of awkward silence and a few heated glares he’s gone, too. Leonard can’t blame him.  
Bones is alone with his dark thoughts again. It’s a good thing the guy closed the front door because at least this way no one can see the tears that are slowly rolling down the doctor’s exhausted face.

 

Jim and Bones don’t see each other the next day. They don’t see each other the day after tomorrow, either. They avoid each other for almost a week until Jim plops down right beside him at the table in the cafeteria with a cheerful expression plastered onto his face. It’s such a contrast to the last time Bones saw him that he doesn’t know what to say.   
Jim seems to sense his confusion and does what he always does. He talks and jokes and tries to lighten the mood much to Bones’ liking. Just when Leonard starts to relax Jim changes his strategy and asks him about what Bones feared the most; he wants to know about the guy in his bedroom and if he’ll ever meet him. Bones almost chokes on his Brussels sprouts. When did he start eating Brussels sprouts, anyway?!  
Jim slaps him on the back and laughs. He can’t know that for Bones it feels like daggers ramming into his body.

 

“Let’s not talk about it, kid. Don’t worry. You’re not going to meet him.” It’s stupid to hope that Jim would just let the topic drop but Bones is in a sour mood and too damn exhausted to think of a good excuse.

 

“Oh come on, Bones! You never get laid! You know how curious I am! You could at least tell me his name. Or tell me if he’s good in bed! You’re my best friend so I have to know if he can make you happy and y’know…satisfy your sexual needs. Don’t be such a prude and tell me!” 

 

Bones refuses to look at him but he can hear that Jim tries to be casual about the whole situation and he almost gets a bad conscience that he’s the one who put his best friend in such an awkward position in the first place. God, he’s pathetic.

 

Jim just keeps talking and joking until eventually he strikes a nerve. “But hey, I have to admit that you have a great taste in men. Blue eyes….blond hair…a tiny weeny bit smaller than you and an athletic body…” Jim unknowingly continues to describe himself while Leonard pushes his plate away and strokes his right hand through his already ruffled hair. Kirk could be such an idiot sometimes.  
Just when he decides to stand up and go as far as his feet can carry him he hears Jim’s voice again. This time it sounds smaller and it’s tinted with realization.

 

One little word and Bones immediately knows that the hiding is over now.

 

“Oh.” 

 

Bones closes his eyes for a second until he feels Jim’s hand resting on his shoulder and it feels so wrong. Jim never touches him like this, so careful and with hesitance. Bones touches his patients like this and he’s up and almost running out of the hall before he can even comprehend what just happened.

 

While he hides for the next days in his room or works his ass off at the infirmary Jim tries to find a solution. His first idea is to talk about it with someone to get help so they…oh. The only person he could talk about things like that is Bones himself. Monday he spends with Allison, tries to avoid his problems with sex.  
Wednesday she notices his weird behaviour and finally asks him about it. But he can’t tell her. Can’t trust her enough to do so. It’d feel like betrayal. Jim can’t help but compare her to Bones. Bones would’ve known if something was wrong. Bones knows him better than he knows himself. Bones would’ve known how to breach the subject. 

But Bones never calls or shows up at his doorstep and now that he’s gone Jim realizes for the first time what it means. Bones loves him. No, he already knew that of course. Bones is in love with him. And now that he knows he can’t understand how he could’ve missed it. The world starts to make sense again. Now he gets why Bones excused himself and left the bar when Jim introduced him to Allison. Now he gets why Bones looked so sick whenever Jim told the doctor about his feelings for the young girl and even asked him for advice. How could Bones be so kind and help him with his relationship? Jim never wanted to hurt Bones.  
It’s kind of ridiculous that Jim was always scared someone could hurt him; that even Bones would leave him behind someday. 

 

No, instead he hurt the best friend he ever had. Jim felt like crap no matter how hard he tried to distract and assure himself that Bones would just need some time alone before Jim could try to smuggle himself back into his friend’s life.   
It wasn’t that Jim was mad or even disgusted by Bones’ feelings for him. If anything he was flattered that someone like Leonard McCoy would fall in love with him of all people.  
God, he missed his friend so much. Missed the smell of disinfectant and the shower gel he used. Missed his scowl and how they could spend the evening on the couch with bourbon and stupid holovids. He missed the weird feeling in his stomach whenever he saw Bones from a distance.

 

Dammit, he gained a few pounds since Bones didn’t choose his food for him anymore and he didn’t even want to think about his cholesterol level.  
Allison never cared about it. Called him a big boy and trusted his good judgment. She never called him to wake him up so he wouldn’t be late for class.   
She never let him be the little spoon. Whenever he cuddled with Bones – and now that he thinks about it he misses it even more – he’d always been the little spoon even though his best friend complained about it and said the bed would be too small for his fat ass. Allison never teased him, either. She was both as nice and lovely as an angel or she’d yell and cry to make him feel guilty. And she never laughed about his jokes.   
Bones didn’t do it either to be honest, but at least he rolled his eyes and got that fond look on his face. And if he was being honest with himself then he’d have preferred to fall asleep in Bones’ arms instead of holding Allison’s curvy body in his own. But what bothered him the most was the jealousy.   
The jealousy he felt when he saw Bones under another person’s body. He’d always tried to get Bones laid but now that he saw it with his own eyes he couldn’t get the image out of his head. And how much it hurt, a little voice reminded him. 

 

What pissed him off about Allison the most though was how she pushed him to talk about his behaviour. Jim thought that she wasn’t worried anymore because he acted strangely but because he refused to tell her his little secret.  
One day he couldn’t stand it anymore and yelled at her.

 

“You don’t get it! I don’t want to talk about it, okay?! I know you just want to help me and I appreciate it, but I don’t want to talk about it! So please, stop it!” and then he muttered “or at least, I don’t want to talk about it with you” and only four or five seconds later a pillow hit his face. Subtlety wasn’t his strong point.

 

“Then go! Go and talk about it with your oh so perfect doctor! If you prefer to spend your time with that alcoholic old man then go and don’t come back, Kirk!” she spat at him before she stormed out of the room. And now Jim realized what it meant when people said that the eyes of love are blind. 

 

Sometimes it’d blind you so much that you’d miss the forest for the trees. He’d always loved Bones. And now that he thought about it he understood that it wasn’t typical for a friendship to feel butterflies whenever that person touched you.  
Before he could think about what he was doing Jim ran out of the door, didn’t wait for the turbolift and sprinted down the stairs and then the streets until he found the flower shop Gaila had once worked for in the summer, bought the biggest bouquet of pink and white lilies and jumped into the next shuttle towards Bones’ dorm complex. A few cadets were smirking when they saw him with the flowers in his hand but he didn’t care. Bones never said it out loud but Jim knew that there were some delicate things in life that Bones truly enjoyed. Lilies were one of those things. And when Jim had asked him for advice Bones had told him to buy something nice for his date. Flowers are nice. And good booze is even better so he stops by the next liquor shop and buys a new bottle of bourbon. Better safe than sorry.

 

Only two minutes later he’s standing in front of Bones’ room, the hands full with gifts and with a sudden lump in his throat.   
Now that he’s here he doesn’t know what to do.   
There’s no time to think because suddenly someone shoves him lightly aside. Someone who’s wearing scrubs from the Starfleet Infirmary.  
Bones looks so sad and Jim immediately feels bad because this is his fault. He made him look like this.   
He wants to say that he’s sorry, that he and Allison aren’t a couple anymore, that he was such an idiot but Bones just types his code into the panel right beside the door and intends to step into his room before he turns around to look Jim in the eyes and says “Jim, I need a bit more time, okay? Don’t worry; it’s not your problem. I just need to be alone for a while. We can hang out some other time and drink that bottle, okay?” He tries to smile and fails miserably but then he adds something after a short pause.

 

“Tell Allison I said hi. The flowers are really beautiful, Jim. I’m sure she’ll like them.” There’s no disdain in his voice and Jim can tell that Bones tries to put on a façade for his best friend without any success. Then he turns around and makes a move to close the door behind him. Jim reacts in the last seconds and puts his foot between the door and the frame.

 

“No, wait! Bones!” Bones waits but now that he’s looking at him Jim has no idea what to say, so he decides to focus on the most important part of his speech.

 

“I want you.” There’s hurt on Bones’ face where Jim expected happiness. What did he do wrong?

 

“Dammit Jim, you should know me good enough to know that I don’t want your pity. I’ll manage. And now go.” He tries to shove Jim’s foot away so he can close the door but Jim refuses to back off.

 

“You…No, Bones. I…God, why is this so damn complicated? Please listen to me.” Bones sighs and leans against the doorframe before he lets him know with a gesture of his broad hands that it’s okay to continue.

 

“I broke up with Allison. She...Oh, don’t look at me like that. I did it because we didn’t fit. I never understood her and she never wanted to understand me, I guess. She’s a strong woman and I was impressed but Bones, I never loved her. You told me once how it feels to be in love and now I know what you mean, Bones. I feel the butterflies, you know? And I want to spend all my time with this one special person, but it’s not Allison. There’s only lust when I’m with her and something like relaxation but there are no butterflies when I look at her. I wanted to love her and I thought that maybe if I waited long enough…I thought it was logical.”   
Jim looks one last time right into Bones’ confused but hopeful face before he finally says what's on his mind.

 

“The flowers are for you, Bones. I know that you like lilies. I know that you can ride a horse and your favourite dish is turkey lasagne. I know that you miss Joanna when you’re alone and can’t distract yourself. I know that you’d never become a captain just because you hate the gold shirts so much. I know that your patients trust you because you don’t sugarcoat things but treat them with respect even if they’re idiots. And it always makes me so proud when people talk about you and they sound so grateful.” Bones blushes at that and tries to hide his face in the shadow of his door. “I know that you can’t fall asleep when the lights are on. You don’t like saltsticks but you love éclair. You only drink four cups of coffee per day. I know that you own a red leather jacket but I never saw you wearing it. The nurses call you Dr. Sexy and you like to swim.   
What I want to say is that I know you, Bones. But I only know you as a friend and I know that there’s so much more about you and I want to know everything.   
I want to know if you’re ticklish and if you like to cuddle. I want to know if you curse in bed. I want to know if you’re possessive and if you like to hold hands. I want to know how it feels to be loved by you. Bones, I’m so in love with you. It took me so long to realize it and maybe it’s too late but please believe me. Please, Bones.   
Give me a chance to prove it to you.” 

 

For a moment he’s afraid he broke his friend because Bones just stares at him like he couldn’t believe what Jim had admitted a few seconds ago.  
Then he tries to compose himself and takes the flowers and the bottle of bourbon out of Jim’s hands and puts it on the little table next to the entry before he’s back and crosses his arms in front of his broad chest. Why did Jim never see how handsome Bones was before? He looked great even in those ugly green scrubs. The shirt is a bit too small for Bones’ ribcage and it stretches so Jim can see the shape of his nipples and…

 

Bones’ words jolt him out of his thoughts. “I don’t do casual, Jim. I can’t.” Jim can clearly see the hope in Bones’ face but there’s fear, too. It’s not a good look on him so he decides that he’ll never put that look on his beautiful face again.

 

Bones doesn’t step back when Jim approaches him. “I don’t want casual, Bones” he says before he leans into his personal space and strokes his cheek with his left hand just before he kisses Bones for the first time. It feels different and perfect at the same time. Bones has such wonderful and plush lips and they feel so good pressed against his own. He tastes of coffee and fresh fruits when Bones nibbles at his lower lip before he sucks it into his own warm mouth where he soothes the little bite with his tongue. He presses Jim against the doorframe while he pushes himself against Jim’s relaxed body. One arm he wraps around Jim’s small back so his hand can stroke his hip while the other one massages his neck.   
Jim’s never been kissed like that before and god, he never wants to stop. He wants to drown in Bones’ scent and suck hickies into his tanned skin so everyone knows who he belongs to. 

 

The cheers of the other cadets that live in the same level of the building jolt them out of their daze. Jim can see Gaila and hear her wolf-whistling. She looks smug. Well, his friends are sometimes smarter than he is.  
He turns back to Bones when he can feel him panting hotly against his neck and when he mumbles “Didn’t you say that you wanted to know if I curse in bed?” the only thing Jim can do is nod.   
“Well kid, then what are you waiting for?” his friend – or boyfriend? – chuckles before he drags Jim by his uniform into the room amid the applause of the crowd. 

 

And if everyone smirks at them the next day because Bones never closes his window and everyone could hear what they did the last night , repeatedly, then they don’t notice it anyway because they’re busy with being in love and sharing kisses.

**Author's Note:**

> You can stalk me on Tumblr!
> 
> http://thebitchesterbrothers.tumblr.com/


End file.
